Lekking Behavior in the Farmland Green Treefrog(Rhacophorus arvalis)

• Main Authors: Wei-Chih Hsieh, 謝煒智
• Other Authors: Kuang-Yang Lue
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2004
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/89443516602159745663

碩士 === 國立臺灣師範大學 === 生命科學研究所 === 92 === Farmland green treefrog (Rhacophorus arvalis) belonging to the family Rhacophoridae is endemic to Taiwan. The mating system of Rhacophorus arvalis is lek. From April 2003 to June 2004 at Yunling in central Taiwan, I investigated the lekking behavior and daily activity pattern, and analyzed the ecological factors on habitat to understand the lek preference in male frogs. During breeding seasons, the results showed that there were present consistent lekking sites on habitats. There were 0~38 males in the lek every night, and the number of males were affected by the amount of rainfall. The average day of the males in lek was 43.8. Males showed high lek fidelity and did not move between two leks. Before the reproductive peak (July-August), many males joined the lek, but during the late breeding seasons, no new individual was identified in the same lek. Based on the adaptive kernel method, the area of 25% male home range in the lek was 10.3m2 and the 50% area was 40.5m2. Daily activity pattern of males displayed vertical movement during breeding seasons. The utility of habitat was characterized as two layers, the upper (> 4m) and middle (0.3m ~ 4m) layers of bamboos. The upper layer was the rest area, where frogs stayed in the daytime and had no lekking behavior, and the middle for lekking. The lek site in the study areas was significantly associated with the ground water level of bamboo fields, the lux, and the density of bamboos, relatively, but had no association with the height of bamboos. The male aggregation might be explained by the Hotspot hypothesis.